Terms and conditions for the use of a credit card and the repayment of debt between you and your lending institution. You'll receive a copy when you open an account, and may also request one through the issuing company's customer service department.

A fee that is charged either yearly or monthly for the use of your credit card if your account is open or if you maintain an account balance, whether or not you have active charging privileges. Monthly charges will appear on your statement as "Monthly Maintenance Fee" and annual charges as "Annual Fee".

A debit card purchase you make without entering a PIN at specific types of businesses. The amount of your transaction is not deducted from your available balance until the final purchase amount is received from the merchant, because the initial amount of the transaction is often higher than the final transaction.

Certain businesses will submit higher authorization amounts as a normal course of business. These businesses are often catalog businesses or travel related (such as airlines, hotels and car rentals).

The sum of all the daily account balances during an accounting period (usually a monthly statement cycle) divided by the number of days in the same period. May be used to determine whether a service charge applies or whether your account qualifies for special services or discounts. See "minimum daily balance."

A type of cash advance you take out on a credit card account. Bank cash advances can be obtained with your card at an ATM and over the counter at a banking center; they can also be obtained with your account number via a same-day online transaction, and as overdraft protection. They can also include the purchase of foreign currency, money orders or traveler's checks from a nonfinancial institution, as well as person-to-person money transfers, bets, lottery tickets, casino gaming chips or bail bonds with your card or account number (including through the use of an enabled mobile device), which are referred to as cash equivalents. Returned payments are bank cash advances.

Since only a portion of your total credit line is available for bank cash advances, it's important to keep track of the remaining amount that you can use for bank cash advances.

Bill Pay is a Bank of America Online Banking service that allows you to pay your bills online using your checking account. In addition, you can elect to receive e-Bill–electronic versions of your paper credit card bills–from Bank of America and a variety of other companies, including AT&T Long Distance, Sears and Texaco. See the list of companies currently offering e-Bills.

A loan you make against your credit card account. Bank cash advances, check cash advances and direct deposits are all cash advances. Each cash advance is often subject to its own annual percentage rate (APR).

A purchase of "cash equivalents"—items that can be used as or changed into cash—from any seller other than a financial institution. Examples of cash equivalents may include casino gaming chips, foreign currency, money orders, wire transfers and travelers checks from a non-financial institution. Please refer to your account agreement to find out what types of transactions your credit card issuer considers cash equivalents.

A check issued by a bank and paid from its funds. A cashier's check will not usually bounce because the amount it is written for is paid to the bank when it is issued, and the bank then assumes the obligation.

A time deposit that is payable at the end of a specified amount of time or "term." CDs generally pay a fixed rate of interest and offer a higher interest rate than other types of deposit accounts. Terms can range from 7 days to 10 years. CDs are insured by the FDIC up to the applicable limit. If early withdrawal from the CD prior to the end of the term is permitted, a penalty is usually assessed. See also: "Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation."

A service that provides images of canceled checks. Each account statement includes images of checks (up to 10 per page) that posted to the account during the statement cycle. You can view and print copies of the front and back of checks posted within the last 180 calendar days by signing on to Online Banking. You can also request copies of checks by visiting your nearest Bank of America banking center, or by calling the customer service number on your statement.

A type of deposit account that enables customers to deposit funds and withdraw available funds on demand, typically by writing a check or using a debit card. These accounts are sometimes interest-bearing.

Transactions are given a "cleared" status when they have been posted to your account. Cleared (or posted) transactions are not always final because there may be certain circumstances when such transactions may be reversed.

A service where the bank keeps a copy or digital image of all checks written against your account for 7 years instead of returning them with the account statement. You can view photocopies of canceled checks posted within the last 180 days by signing in to Online Banking or visiting your nearest Bank of America banking center.

Your credit history includes information about whether you pay your bills on time and how much you owe your creditors. The information generally includes your name, address, employer, length of employment, account types, account balances, payment history, collection information, public records and inquiries. Your credit history generally goes back seven to ten years.

Your credit score is a number that reflects the information in your Credit Report. Your credit score can change if your Credit History changes. Generally, the higher your credit score, the more likely you are to be offered better credit terms. An example of a common credit score is the FICO score.

A plastic card that deducts money directly from the designated Bank of America checking account to pay for goods or services. It can be used anywhere Visa® or MasterCard® debit cards are accepted and no interest is charged. A debit card can also be used at ATMs to withdraw cash.

A service provided by Visa to Bank of America personal debit card customers. In the case of emergency (theft, etc.) replacement cash can be delivered to you directly or to a convenient location anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is an independent agency of the United States government that protects depositors against the loss of their insured deposits if an FDIC-insured bank fails. FDIC insurance is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government. The FDIC insures deposit accounts (checking, savings, money market savings and CDs) up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category.

The amount of time you have to pay your purchase balance in full without paying interest. A grace period will not apply if you revolve a balance. Bank cash advances, balance transfers, direct deposits and check cash advances generally do not have a grace period. There is no grace period for payments, which are due no later than the payment due date.

Deposit holds are delays to the availability of a portion of deposited checks. They occur infrequently and, if you receive one, you will receive a notice with the reason and the new date the funds will be available. The date on the hold notice will replace the credit pending date for that portion of the deposit. Please refer to the Deposit Agreement for more details.

Situations that typically cause a check to be held include:

The check is for an amount larger than account holder normally deposits.

The source of the check (for example, a personal check is more likely to be held than a government check).

The financial institution suspects that it cannot collect the funds from the account the check is drawn on.

A bank account in which there have not been any transactions for an extended period of time. In some cases, when there has been no activity in the account within a period specified by state law (generally at least 3 years), the law requires the bank to turn the account over to the state as unclaimed property.

A fee charged as interest on a credit card loan. Interest is calculated by multiplying your credit card balance with the daily interest rate. That figure is then multiplied by the number of days in the billing cycle. Interest is only charged if the balance is comprised of transactions for which there is no grace period or the balance is not paid in full each month. If you only make transactions that have a grace period and you pay the entire balance each month, no interest charge is applied.

The percentage of interest paid on an interest-bearing account, such as savings, CDs and some checking accounts; also, the percentage charged on a loan or line of credit. Different types of accounts and loans pay or charge different rates of interest. See "original interest rate."

Any account linked to another account at the same financial institution so that funds can be transferred electronically between accounts. In some cases, the combined balance of all linked accounts may determine whether monthly service and other fees are applied to the account.

The lowest end-of-day balance in an account during a statement cycle; a certain minimum daily balance is often required with interest-bearing accounts to avoid a service charge or qualify for special services. See “average daily balance.”

A financial instrument, issued by a bank or other institution, allowing the individual named on the order to receive a specified amount of cash on demand. Often used by people who do not have checking accounts.

An ATM or cash machine that provides ATM cardholders with access to their accounts, but is owned and operated by an independent bank or financial institution. Fees generally apply to cash withdrawals at non-bank ATMs and they don't generally accept deposits.

An overdraft occurs when a bank makes a payment that has been requested (such as a check), even though there are not enough funds available in the account cover it. This type of payment is known as an "overdraft" and the account is said to have been "overdrawn." See also "Overdraft protection."

A Bank of America service that allows you to link an eligible checking account to another account, such as a credit card or line of credit, to help protect against returned items or overdrafts. When your eligible checking account does not have sufficient available funds to cover a check, funds are automatically transferred from the available balance in the linked account to cover the check.

The method used by your credit card issuer to assign all or part of your payments. If you have balances with different rates, your total minimum payments may go to pay off the balance with the lowest rate first. Any extra amount you pay — over the total minimum payment — will go to pay off the balances with higher rates first.

The APR(s) which may be applied to your account under certain default circumstances, such as if you pay late, miss a payment, or pay less than the full amount due by your payment due date. Also known as default APR or default rate.

A transaction or item that appears on your account statement. "Posted" transactions have been processed by your issuer, but funds for the transaction may still be in transit. Unposted transactions have not yet been processed, but may affect the amount of credit available.

A temporary interest rate that's lower than the regular rate and offered for a specified period of time. Some promotional or introductory rates may only apply to certain types of transactions such as balance transfers and/or require a minimum transaction amount.

When an interest rate change for new transactions is applied to your account, any existing balances of that type will be identified as protected balances on your statement. Interest on protected balances generally continues to be calculated using the previous APR structures, not the newer rate, until the balances are paid in full.

The amount of interest that has accrued between the closing date of your last statement and the date your balance was actually paid. This only occurs on credit card balances that are accruing interest charges.

When you do not have enough available funds in your account to cover an item, and we decline to pay and return the item unpaid, we will charge a $35 NSF:Returned Item fee for each returned item. View your account agreement for additional information.

The amount of time between your last statement date and your current statement date. For instance, if your current statement is dated October 1, and your previous statement was dated September 1, there are 30 days in your statement cycle.

A request that the bank not pay a check or payment you have written or authorized. Stop-payment orders are generally placed for checks that have been lost or stolen, or in situations where a purchase is disputed. Stop payment orders generally expire after 6 months and a fee is usually charged for this service.

An agreement to deposit a stated amount in the bank for a fixed length of time during which a fixed rate of interest will be paid. Penalties are assessed if the funds are withdrawn before the end of the agreed-upon period.

A fee that may be charged when making certain types of transactions with your Credit Card. It's usually a percentage of the total amount of the transaction. For instance, a transaction fee is often charged when you use your Credit Card for a Bank Cash Advance transaction, such as withdrawing cash from an ATM.

Refers to a Federal Reserve Board regulation that limits certain types of withdrawals and/or transfers you can make from your savings and / or money market deposit accounts. With such accounts, no more than 6 preauthorized or automatic transfers (including check, draft and point of sale transactions, if checks or debit cards are allowed on the account), or telephone / PC transfers (including bill payments) may be made each month. However, an unlimited number of withdrawals may be made at ATMs and teller windows.

The prime lending rate offered by a number of the country's largest banks. It is frequently cited as a standard for general interest rate levels in the economy. The U.S. Prime Rate is often used to calculate variable interest rates. A set number or margin, determined by the issuer, is added to the U.S. Prime Rate to get the variable interest rate. When the Prime Rate goes up or down, the variable rate may change.

An interest rate that may fluctuate during the term of a loan, line of credit or deposit account. This rate may vary based on changes in an index that is outside the bank's control, such as the U.S. Prime Rate or other prescribed criteria, or the bank may change the rate at its discretion.